Saturday, May 31, 2014

It's only four more hearthguard for my SAGA Scots, but it represents so much more; these are the Last of the Free, the final point for the warband.

(And yes, I am fully aware of just how long this has taken, so if we could keep the references to painting in geological time to a minimum, I'd be most grateful...)

Once these lads are done and dusted, that'll be six points of tartany goodness to grace the table. They're looking a wee bit rough at the moment, but we'll highlight and finish and tuft up their bases until they're fit to join their comrades and show the enemies of Alba the folly of daring to set a hostile foot upon Scottish soil!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

I'm pleased to report the prognosis for the Trolls I blogged yesterday is extremely good. Not only has the rebuilding of various feet and ankles gone to plan, now they are undercoated I'm having a deal of difficulty telling where the miniature stops and the green stuff starts. By the time they are painted and based they should be more or less indistinguishable from complete ones.

Number two from the left was the real challenge repair-wise but all four are looking good.

My only real concern now is the strength of the repairs and their ongoing longevity but as I can't do anything about it there's no sense is wasting a good worry on it either.

I also took the time to add some additional feathers to each of the four to "savage them up" a bit. I think I'll also potentially be adding some warpaint just to tie the army together. Time enough to consider that though so no rash decisions.

Edit - a VERY knowledgeable fellow Aussie over on the Oldhammer Forum has identified my trolls. They are in fact "flattering renditions" of 4th Ed GW stone trolls by an Aussie company called Inquisition Miniatures. Here's an old set from fleaBay...

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Let me start this by making it quite clear I am not normally a violent person. Despite my interest in things military I have definite preference for the more peaceful pursuits. However, having gotten that out of the way I can now say that if I *ever* actually meet the gobsmacking idiot who cut these wonderful miniatures off at the ankle with a pair of side cutters I *will* do him a lasting and visibly gruesome injury. [ahem!]

All four needed both legs pinning. Number two is missing over half his foot and both ankles!

Today's efforts at the painting table have included very little in the way of brushwork. Rather I've been stripping, drilling and pinning these absolutely gorgeous Oldhammer trolls I bought on fleaBay years ago. Each of them had been removed from their original base with something clearly more suited to forge-work than Forgeworld. What possessed the previous owner to do such a thing is beyond me and I will take great pleasure in finally restoring them to their rightful state, despite the work that will eventually entail. For those who remember the Winged Nightmare Episode, this is if at all possible even more complicated a restoration.

The pins go all the way up through into the legs and bend back beneath for strength.

As you can see in the first pic Troll Number Two is by far the worst. Not only were both legs cut clean through, his left foot is now more than half missing. He'll now require the kind of work normally performed by Dr Richard Steadman at an eyewatering hourly rate (OK knees not ankles but you get the idea).

It's a month on crutches and then 9 months rehab for you matey...

And having finally gotten that off my chest I can now ask a question. Does anyone know anything at all about these particular miniatures? Endless Google Foo has revealed only the very early Marauder or (I suspect later) Citadel versions. I'm fairly confident these fall in between but can't find a single image. I'm keen to know if I have the whole set for starters.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

More progress on da savage boyz this week. Got the whole unit complete including my unit filler base. Set things up for a better photo as well...

There is plenty of debate on whether unit fillers are a good thing or not. Some people see them as a cop out or a cheapskate solution where people bulk up unit sizes in any thrifty way they can. Others see them as a way to add some character and distinctiveness to your army.

I'm kind of in the middle myself. Something small (4 bases worth in 24 here) and not just a rock or a tree (a totem pole for savages this time) is a good thing I like to think. Replacing half a unit with pebbles, grass tufts or crud from your bits box seems the opposite. Having said that it's each to their own and who's to say what's right or not? Just my 2c.

Regardless, here's a close up of mine showing the base of the totem and it's shaman accompaniment. Best not to consider HOW you move a totem pole about during a battle eh? :-)

Before I go, welcome to elcid1099 whose Project Auldern 1645 blog is an absolute cracker for wonderful painting and background.

As is traditional I've dug deep through my blog roll and found a dozen or so sites that I feel don't get the followers or recognition they deserve. Have a look at these for some wonderful content and cracking eye candy...

10. If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on, which one would it be?
Crap, this is like asking which eye you'd rather lose. Ummm.... Copplestone Castings. No, wait, Artizan Designs. No, ummm...

11. What is your favourite takeaway?
Indian. Especially right before a staff meeting. Mwahahahahaha!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

More progress on the Savage Orcs with the first half of my unit of Big 'Uns with Extra Hand Weapons now completed. You can see them here all ranked up with the second batch in the background and a unit filler in place. I might go for another 6 across the back for a total of 30 in the future as the unit filler looks a bit odd as the back rank.

Apologies for the quality of the pics. The camera was having issues with the unpainted miniatures contrasting the the painted ones in front.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Things are moving along nicely with the my new Savage Orc project. The first 14 Arrer Boyz are complete apart from basing and a quick blast of matt varnish. I'll probably leave the basing to be done as a batch once I reach the 500pt mark for the army.

Da Red Arrerz

That being the case a start has been made on my unit of Big Unz with extra hand weapons which you can see lurking in the background with skin tones complete. A hero shaman (Shaman Muranduh?) has photo-bombed as well.

Big Unz await a unit name. Da Bloo Toofs? Something else?

Once the Big Unz and the Shaman are complete that'll be the first 500pts knocked off. Not sure what's next on the workbench, maybe some Forest Gobbos or another unit of Arrer Boyz.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

In the wake of birthday efforts for Russ things have settled into something like a normal rhythm here at Chez Mills i.e. I'm only painting at breakneck speed, not near-light speed :-). This week I've been working on 15mm Napoleonic Saxons for our big game coming up in early June.

4.5 battalions of Saxons down, 1.5 to go. Let's not talk about the two trays full of other stuff...

However, you can only paint wee men white for so long though and a new project has crept onto the table - Warhammer Fantasy Savage Orcs. Yes, really.

I had zero interest in Savage Orcs until Russ gave me a handful. Cue Acute Perry-Citadel-itis, my evil nemesis...

These archers are possibly the most pointless unit you can field as a Savage Orc commander. They're average shots and prone to Frenzy so more than likely to go tearing off to attack stuff in melee "Coz itz wot we boyz do ta kill da umies!!!". So of course I have two units of 14 of them. With full command.

What I really need is more run-o-the-mill foot sloggers. If people out there in blog land have Perry-era metal figs for trade or purchase please let me know. I (clearly) don't need any more archers but I do need these types of chaps...

Anything from the top half of the page - Savage Orc Boyz

Same here, anything from the bottom half of the page - Savage Orc Boyz

Plus a few other things besides. You can contact me using the form in the side margin.

And before I go a warm welcome to Der Feldmarshall, Springinsfeld, MiniMike, maximex and Destiny.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

This is a rather a special post. As one of two of our followers may know we have a tradition here at C&G to paint an entire army for a club member as a 40th birthday present. This time it was the turn of Michael "I've never actually painted a whole Ork" Russell and he chose greenskins as his painting present.

Yesterday was the delivery date and we duly presented the completed army to Russ as part of the celebrations. Here are some pics of the man himself and his new horde. Apologies for the image quality but the lighting and dark background made decent photos very hard to achieve. Painting by Millsy, Ev, Nug and Bob. Basing by Cory...

They're actually painted? Totes awesome!

When it was my turn last time and Russ went out of his way to do a couple of extra presents for me so I felt obliged to do the same for him. First some Warhammer Fantasy Skinks with blowpipes...

And secondly some period-agnostic 1/1200 islands and coastline for the various naval games we play. This was designed to fit entirely into a presentation / storage box in two layers. The various pieces are composed of MDF, foam, tile grout, cork bark, toothpicks, paint, flock and clump foliage....

An innocuous looking box

With a top layer of islands

And a bottom layer of islands and coastline

And finally here are the C&G lads all together (minus Ev unfortunately)...

Left to right: Cory, Marcus, Ian, Russ, Bob, Nug, Graeme, Millsy and James

So that's another 40th over and done with. Happy Birthday Russ! Next up is Nug in roughly 12 months time I believe. Time to get the brushes out again :-)

Edit - I neglected to mention that my contribution included some 70 odd infantry. I painted about 2/3 of them during Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge but couldn't reveal the fact as it would have wrecked the surprise!

About Evan

I am a secondary contributor to the C&G blog, a long-time gamer (war-, board- and role-playing), a sporadic painter and modeller, recovering tartan addict, and now a grandfather. My life as a wargamer began nigh on 40 years ago, when I stumbled upon the local library’s Featherstone collection. This was the gateway for any number of associated hobbyesque interests, upon which I now blog from time to time...